An Open Letter to our New President

14 November 2016

Dear President-elect Trump,

I write this knowing that you may never read it. I know you are busy. But I have to do something other than hope & pray for the best.

I write to you begging you to listen to the average citizen. I know you are a very smart man. I've read your books. I've watched The Apprentice. I've stood in Trump Tower. I look at your businesses. You are capable. I know you are able to solve difficult problems and tackle the impossible.

Please, I beg you, listen to your detractors. Listen to what they are saying underneath it all. They are afraid. You spoke against so many people, Mexicans & Blacks, Muslims & Mormons. You mock those that don't believe you and belittle your detractors. You have made light of difficult circumstances and proposed fixing difficult problems with simple sounding draconian solutions. You have threatened the religious & devout followers of all beliefs who fear your attacks against Muslims will translate to attacks against all religions.

Your manner of speech and inflammatory ways on the campaign trail have ignited a wave of hate, distrust, and refusal to even try to understand others. Republicans, sick of having Obama's policies shoved down their throat for 8 years either by government consensus or executive order are now behaving the same way they accuse the other side of being.

The way you ran your campaign emboldened those who actually are bigots, racists & misogynists giving them what they feel was a free pass in the expression of their hatred. Your words on 60 Minutes Sunday were a start, but it doesn't undo the months of negativity sown during your campaign. You may deny it, but we experience it.

I beg you to listen. I beg you to hear all sides. I beg you to give a voice to all who are marginalized. Neither side is listening to the other, and I fear that they have forgotten how. Please demonstrate it for them.

I have been a foster mother for 8 years. We fostered a little more than 20 children during that time. My husband and I have 8 children of our own. I love my foster children dearly, even though they are no longer in my home.

I have spent hours listening to the words pouring from a tear streaked child as they recount the horrors perpetuated on their families by governments who don't know what they are doing. They have come to this country for various reasons, but they are not criminals. They are fleeing violence, trying to provide a better life for their families, and doing the best they can. I have “children” (they are not mine by birth but I love them the same) scared that their family members will be deported. I have one child who is a U.S. citizen who ran away from my home to rejoin her family in Mexico. They had been deported. I have seen firsthand the hurt and fear she experienced because her family was ripped apart and separated by a border.

Their pain is real. I believe that many are desperate refugees, not criminals. I haven't met any who are trying to be criminals. I have only met good people in our community who are a part of our lives and community. It is my belief that once we make their children citizens, we have a duty to them as our citizens. I don't believe any citizen, especially children, should have their family yanked away, split up, and separated by a wall.

My first family member came to America on the Mayflower. My last family member to come to America is my husband, who came here when he was 4, his family finally being able to flee Germany after the war. All of us who chose to come here came here for very good reasons. This land attracts those who need a fresh start; who need hope. It is a land of promise. Yet those who came recently looking for hope and a fresh start are living in fear. Please look at what is going on in our illegal immigrant communities with fresh eyes. Listen to their stories and why they are here.

I beg you to help heal this divided nation. I plead with you to speak kindly to those you do not agree with. Others copy your example. I urge you to stop feeding and fueling the fire that is our division. I ask you as a human being to look on those around you with compassion & grace and strive to hear them and address their very real concerns and fears. And I beg you to set a good example to those who are your followers who are only too willing to shut down conversation, brag that they won, and refuse to listen to the very real pain around them.

Please, be the healing this country needs.

Sincerely,

Rachel Rehm

An Ardent Supporter of America